Orissa High Court institutes "Lawyer of the year" Award to encourage young lawyers practicing in district courts

The Orissa High Court has announced the launch of a scheme to give awards for the "Lawyer of the year" on an annual basis, to encourage young lawyers practicing in district courts..As per a notification dated January 26, a revised scheme was recently introduced to select the best lawyer from districts in Odisha, titled the "Lawyer of the Year-2022 Award Scheme.".The annual award would be in the form of books worth ₹ 10,000, along with a certificate and a memento. In order to select the winner, the work of the lawyer-candidate for the calendar year (January 1-December 31) would be evaluated by a Jury. .The Award would be presented on Lawyer's Day every year, which is celebrated on April 28 in Odisha. In a given year, only one Lawyer would be chosen for the award for every District. .Notably, the notification clarifies that a lawyer who has won the award in a particular year will not be eligible to be considered for the award again in subsequent years. .It is also laid down that there may be years where no lawyer may be selected for the district if there is no suitable candidate found. The award is not to be given for the sake of being given, the notification states, in this regard. .The notification also lays down the criteria for being eligible to be considered for the award, including that the lawyer should be enrolled with the Odisha State Bar Council and a member of the local Bar Association. The candidate must be a practicing lawyer, either in a District Court or in any outlying station of the district. .An age limit has also been prescribed, with the notification laying down that the lawyer should not be less than 30 years and not more than 40 years to be considered for the award. However, in exceptional cases, a lawyer younger than 30 years, but not below 28 years, may also be considered for the award on a written recommendation by the Jury. .Further details regarding eligibility, the form of application, Jury composition, and factors to be weighed by the Jury in selecting winners have been detailed in the notification. .[Read Notification]